Former Dundalk goalkeeper facing €10.5m drugs charge

Van Boxtel in action for Dundalk

A former Dundalk and Leeds United goalkeeper, who had failed to appear in court six years ago while on charges linked to a €10.5m cannabis find, has been arrested.

Officers from the garda national drugs unit arrested 40-year-old fugitive Eddie van Boxtel during an operation in Clondalkin, Dublin, late last week.

Mr Van Boxtel had been on the garda wanted list after he failed to appear at Naas District Court and a warrant for his arrest was issued in July 2008.

The former soccer star, with an address at Sillogue Avenue, Ballymun, is charged with possession of a controlled drug, cannabis resin, and possession for sale and supply, at Castlewarden South, Kill, Co Kildare.

After his arrest, Mr Van Boxtel was brought before Naas court and remanded in custody in Cloverhill Prison to appear in court on Wednesday. He was not awarded bail.

Det Sgt Greg Sheehan told the court that Mr Van Boxtel had false documentation when he was arrested.

Mr Van Boxtel was one of four men arrested by gardai following the seizure of a large cannabis haul at Castlewarden on the Naas dual carriageway and brought before Naas court.

His failure to turn up in court for a scheduled appearance came five months after he had been charged with the offence.

Dutch-born Mr Van Boxtel was a well-known goalkeeper and played with several League of Ireland clubs.

He helped Dundalk to win the league in 1995 and also played with Galway United, Monaghan United, Home Farm and Bray Wanderers.

He also spent a season with Leeds United at the age of 17 but returned home after clashing with his manager.

His most famous sporting moment came when he saved a penalty from Eric Cantona during Dundalk’s friendly with Manchester United in the early ‘Nineties.

Source: Irish Independent

Convicted fuel launderer faces extradition to the UK

A convicted fuel launderer with an address in Dundalk, who escaped from jail in England more than 12 years ago, is to be extradited from Ireland to serve the rest of his sentence.

Eugene Michael Flynn (53) has agreed to his extradition after being locked up in Cloverhill Prison in Dublin since his arrest in December.

It is expected he will be taken shortly by detectives to Dublin Airport and put on a flight to West Yorkshire, under escort.

Flynn was detained by officers at Anne Street in Dundalk in December on a European arrest warrant, which had been issued by UK authorities last July.

His arrest came four days after he had arrived back in Ireland from the United States, where he had been running a tarmac company in Boston.

Flynn, from Dunroamin House, Ballymascanlon, Dundalk, absconded from prison on November 3^rd 2001.

The warrant stated that Flynn had been convicted of a fuel laundering offence, involving the invasion of excise duties, at Leeds Crown Court on September 21^st 2001. He was sentenced to three years and nine months.

The court heard a tanker, owned by Flynn, was linked up by hoses to a sophisticated diesel laundering plant.

Rogers felt he crossed the line before taking his own life

The late Shane Rogers

A man who took his own life while in custody after confessing to shooting dead another man told gardaí that there was a “thin line” and he had “crossed it”, an inquest has heard.

Shane Rogers (32) from Deery’s Terrace in Inniskeen, Co Monaghan, was speaking to Sgt Kieran Moore having handed himself in after he fatally shot Crossmaglen GAA player James Hughes (35) in an incident near Dundalk on the night of December 11, 2011.

He died after hanging himself in a holding cell at Cloverhill Courthouse following a remand hearing on December 20, 2011.

A report into the incident released earlier this year found that he had not been checked for almost an hour before he was found.

The inquest into his death at Dublin Coroner’s Court heard that nine days earlier Mr Rogers spoke to Sergeant Kieran Moore shortly after 4am and said he had shot two people and thought they were dead.

Mr Rogers was speaking in a “calm voice”, he said.

He told Sgt Moore that he had been sitting at a bridge for the previous ten minutes “with the barrel of his shotgun in his mouth” but “couldn’t do it” and wanted to hand in the weapon.

Mr Rogers drove to Carrickmacross Garda Station and was met by Sgt Moore who cautioned him.

“It’s a thin line, it’s a thin line and I crossed it tonight,” he said.

When Sgt Moore retrieved the gun, it was loaded. When he removed the cartridge Mr Rogers told him: “that was the one for me but I didn’t have the balls”.

Mr Rogers was subsequently charged with the murder of Mr Hughes and taken to Cloverhill Prison where he was held on a wing for vulnerable inmates.

The court heard that he told a number of people that he intended to take his own life following his arrest. Sgt Moore said that he overheard Mr Rogers talking to his sister in Australia and telling her not to come home right away but to “wait for his funeral”.

He also heard him tell other family members that he was remorseful and would like to die, said Sgt Moore.

While being assessed on his committal to prison by nurse officer Elaine Dunne, Mr Rogers said that he felt remorseful and full of regret. “He didn’t see a bright future for himself. He was not able to guarantee his safety,” she said.

He later told his cellmate Uja Iwo that he wanted to kill himself. However, Mr Iwo told the court that Mr Rogers subsequently told him that he had “changed his mind”.

When he was assessed by GPs and the psychiatric team at Cloverhill Prison, he denied any intention to harm himself. Community mental health nurse Fintan Caddow said that Mr Rogers told him that “those thoughts had passed”.

However, it was decided not to move him to the general prison population.

He was moved to a shared cell in the vulnerable wing due to ongoing concerns for his safety and well-being and he remained on close observation while there.

The inquest continues.

Source: Shane Rogers took his own life after confessing to shooting dead James Hughes (Irish Mirror)